ETNA - Two local teams battled it out on Saturday as the Yreka Miners and Etna Lions faced off in the third place game of the 2013 Marble Mountain Baseball Tournament.

Playing at the Fort Jones Field in front of a packed crowd full of Lions and Miners fans, Etna pulled off the 5-0 win to finish it's home tournament 3-1.

Despite the Miners giving up only three hits, the Lions were able to capitalize on walks to score runs and had a top notch pitching performance by ace Preston Munson to seal the win. The Miners finished the tournament 2-2.

The contest was scoreless until the third inning when the Lions put up two runs. Etna put up three more runs in the fifth inning. Munson earned the win and had six strikeouts.

"He did a great job and pitched well," Etna head coach Collin Krueger said.

"He kept our guys off balance. They are a good team," Yreka head coach Jason Freitas said. "They beat us fair and square."

For Etna, Ricky Reynolds went 2-for-2 with an RBI and Tyler Murphy went 1-for-2 with an RBI and two runs.

This was the second time this season the two teams have met. The first time was a scrimmage game in Yreka that Etna won 5-0. Etna improved to 5-4-1 overall while Yreka is now 3-5-1 for the year.

Krueger said that it was nice to do well at their home tournament and end things with a win against a quality team like Yreka.

"It definitely gives our kids a bit of a confidence boost," he said.

Besides Fort Jones, games were also played in Etna at the two-day, eight team tournament.

Etna Games

The Lions opened the tournament up with a 7-5 victory against fellow Shasta Cascade team Modoc on Friday. Etna was up 7-1 in the sixth and final inning when Modoc smacked in four runs as the Lions ended up with a two run victory.

Trevor Stacher was the winning pitcher and had eight strikeouts and gave up only three hits and one earned run. Nick Meyer was 4-for-4, and Munson went 2-for-2 with an RBI. Murphy went 2-for-4.

The next game the Lions struggled against Anderson High and lost 12-3. Murphy went 2-for-2 with a run and Stacher was 1-for-3 with two RBI's.

On Saturday morning Etna put on a clinic and crushed Tulelake 15-0. Meyer earned the win and had six strikeouts and gave up a single hit. Andrew Stone went 4-for-4 with two runs and RBI. Meyer went 2-for-2 with three runs. Austin Berry went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI's.

Overall, Krueger was pleased with the Lions taking third in the tournament.

Page 2 of 3 - "I think we did well. Krueger said. "I think we improved." But, he said, he and the team know the season is still young and they have a lot of work ahead of them if they want to do well again this season after earning the SCL title last year and making it to the section title game.

"We still have things we need to work on," he said. "We did make some mental errors and that bugged me."

Etna next plays on Wednesday at Phoenix, Ore., in doubleheader action.

Yreka Games

Yreka did not have a good start to the tournament as they were soundly defeated by former fellow Northern Athletic League opponent West Valley, 8-0.

The Eagles had five runs in the first inning and cruised to the win. It did not help that starting pitcher Cody Hoff was hit on the calf by a pitch and had to leave the game in the first inning, Freitas said. He was able to participate in the rest of the tournament and appears to be OK, Freitas said. It also did not help tht the team was not focused, including having four players not having the proper equipment before the start of the game, he said,

"We didn't play well," Freitas said. "We were not mentally in it. We had no fight in us."

Evan Bosinger went 2-for-2 and Matt Jespersen was 1-for-2 with a double and two stolen bases.

Things went much better the next game against fellow NAL opponent Central Valley as the Miners earned a 12-5 victory. Yreka had five runs to start the contest. "We came out and battled," Freitas said.

Yreka had 13 hits for the game. "We put the ball in play more," Freitas said. Andy Andreas was 2-for-3 with two RBI's and a double. Cade Parker went 2-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and a stolen base. Michael Schuler had two runs, a stolen base and a double, while Dustin Jochim had two runs and an RBI.

Christian Charles had a run and a double for the Miners. Evan Bosinger had two RBI's for Yreka. Hoff had a run and an RBI and Gabe Durney finished with two runs. Curt Bennett earned the win for the Miners and had two strikeouts.

On Saturday morning, Yreka cruised to a 14-2 victory against Hoopa. Freitas said that the team did a good job hitting the ball as they cranked out 11 runs in the first inning. Parker earned the win and struck out nine batters. He also had a run, and RBI and an double. Durney went 2-for-2 and had two runs three RBI's, an double and a triple. Schuler finished with two runs, an RBI, a double and a stolen base. Charles finished with two runs and an RBI.

Page 3 of 3 - After some early season struggles, Freitas said he thought his squad was much more consistent and was pleased overall with the Miners performance at the tournament.

Now, he said, his squad must prepare for the start of the Northern Athletic League and believes his team has the potential to again repeat as league champions. Freitas believes that if his team continues to work on the fundamentals and not let mental mistakes get the best of them they should be in good shape in the NAL again this season.

Anderson High, a member of the NAL along with Yreka, won the Etna tournament. Yreka and Anderson open the NAL season on Tuesday with a doubleheader at Anderson. Yreka hosts Anderson for single game this Friday.